UMass hockey plays exhibiton game against Canadian powerhouse Saturday

Photo by J. Anthony RobertsUMass hockey fans get their first look Saturday

It's only an exhibition game, but it will be a real test. The University of Massachusetts hockey team will play the University of New Brunswick Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Mullins Center Practice Rink.

Now nobody in these parts I know follows Canadian college hockey, so here's the scary picture of what the young Minutemen lads will be facing when they play these older folks from Fredericton:

The University of New Brunswick was 27-1 last year in the Atlantic University Sport league.
All right, so that was last year.

They're already 5-0 this year.

We checked to see who their leading scorer was last year. It was Hunter Tremblay. He scored 25 goals in 27 games last season, and had 52 points. So we quickly grabbed this year's roster, in hopes he'd be gone. But he isn't. If the roster is correct, you'll see him wearing No. 7 if you swing by the Mullins Center Practice Rink.

It looks like the second-leading scorer has left, but the third leading scorer last year was a defenseman named Luke Gallant, He had 36 points in 27 games. Tremblay was a plus-25, Gallant a plus-17.

Unfortunately, the goalie is back too. Travis Fullerton (No. 1) played in 20 games, and was 18-1 with a 2.09 goals against average. The other guy - well, he also returns. Derek Yeomans was 9-0 with a 1.79 goals against average in 10 games

But it's an exhibition game.

This is the third straight year the Minutemen have played New Brunswick in preseason. And the Minutemen only lost 3-2 to the Varsity Reds in last year's game.

UNB averaged 2,820 fans per game for 14 home dates last season.

And maybe a high level of play UMass needs to play in before heading to Minnesota.

Following the game, fans can stay for the annual Skate with the Minutemen.

Fans should be alerted that the Practice Rink has a limited capacity. Once the rink is filled, fire laws do not allow for any overflow. So those not wishing to take a chance of being turned away should get there early.